Last week we shared some TripAdvisor growth numbers — like that its user contributed reviews cover over 85k destinations, 474k hotels, 100k vacation rentals, 135k attractions, and over 675k restaurants; and travelers contribute nearly 1 million of these reviews in number every month. (Not to mention this was all coming off news that TripAdvisor was being spun out of Expedia as its own public company.)
One of the best parts about crowdsourcing is the aggregate data and information you can pull from hundreds of thousands of consumer contributed data points. And when you’re TripAdvisor boasting 23 new travel reviews added every minute, you can imagine how great they are at identifying top travel destinations based on peoples’ reviews.
Today the company released its third annual Travelers’ Choice lists by geography of the top travel destinations for 2011 based on millions of reviews offered on TripAdvisor. Below you will find the top ten across the world as well as top ranked destinations here in the United States. Unfortunately Boston doesn’t make either list, but our neighbors in NYC made both (NYC was the only US destination to make the top 10 world list). Destination award winners were determined based on a combination of travelers’ favorite places and the overall popularity of the destination.
“Millions of TripAdvisor travelers around the globe have helped identify the world’s top travel spots,” said Barbara Messing, CMO at TripAdvisor. “The Travelers’ Choice Destinations awards not only recognize some of the most beloved travel destinations worldwide, but serve as inspiration for millions of travelers looking to plan their next trip.”
2011 Travelers’ Choice World Destinations:
1. Cape Town, South Africa
2. Sydney, Australia
3. Machu Picchu, Peru
4. Paris, France
5. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
6. New York City, United States
7. Rome, Italy
8. London, United Kingdom
9. Barcelona, Spain
10. Hong Kong, China
2011 Travelers’ Choice U.S. Destinations:
1. New York City, New York
2. Honolulu, Hawaii
3. San Francisco, California
4. Las Vegas, Nevada
5. Lahaina, Hawaii
6. Kailua-Kona, Hawaii
7. New Orleans, Louisiana
8. San Diego, California
9. Sedona, Arizona
10. Seattle, Washington
